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SHIJIN Packaging
Journal/Manufacturing

From Preform to Bottle: Inside PET Stretch-Blow Moulding

How a small test-tube-like preform becomes a finished bottle — and why PET and PE follow two very different production paths.

July 20266 min read

Two resins, two routes

Not all bottles are made the same way. At Shijin, PET and PE follow distinct production flows — knowing which applies to your product explains lead times, tooling and cost.

The PET path: injection then stretch-blow

PET runs a two-stage process: raw resin → injection-moulded preform → stretch-blow into a bottle → silk-screen / label → QC → warehouse → ship. The preform is a thick-walled, test-tube-like shape; heated and stretch-blown, it takes the final bottle form with excellent clarity and wall consistency.

We run 30+ automatic blow-moulding lines and 16 injection-moulding machines across our Shenzhen and Huizhou plants, giving the capacity for roughly 200,000 bottles a day.

The PE path: one-step extrusion-blow

PE and PP follow a shorter route: raw resin → blow moulding (formed in one step) → silk-screen → QC → warehouse → ship. The bottle is formed directly, which suits the softer, chemical-resistant bodies used in cleaning and squeeze applications.

Drying: the step nobody sees

Plastic hates moisture during moulding. We dry PET and PE resin at 170–180°C for 3–4 hours, and colour masterbatch at 100–120°C for 2 hours, before it ever reaches a machine. Skip this and you get haze, bubbles and weak walls.

Vertical integration — own plants, own tooling, own decoration — is what lets us hold quality across every one of these steps instead of hoping a subcontractor did.

Colour, built in

Colour is dosed as masterbatch during moulding, not painted on. The ratio sets the effect: transparent uses pure resin; semi-transparent 1–3.5%; solid ~4%; pearl solid 4–6%; high-gloss solid 6–8%; frosted 0.5–3%; and iridescent a hefty 15–18%.

Have a bottle in mind? Let’s make it.

Send us your capacity, material and quantity — our engineering team replies within one business day with a quote and 3D-ready options.

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